Humane Society seizes man's cows

December 14, 2007|By ERIN JULIUS

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Officials from the Humane Society of Washington County recently seized more than 30 cows owned by a man who has been in the news during the last several years for owning two cloned cows and their offspring.

Paul Miller, executive director of the Humane Society, would not elaborate about a complaint filed against Greg Wiles, owner of the cows.

On Dec. 6, the Humane Society seized 15 Holstein heifers from a pasture on College Road in the Hagerstown area, spokeswoman Katherine Cooker said Thursday in a press release.

Two of those cows died Dec. 7 and were taken to a state lab for a necropsy.

An additional 18 cows and one dead cow were seized Wednesday from a pasture on Neck Road in the Williamsport area.

Advertisement

It was unclear who owned the two properties the cows were being housed on, Cooker said Thursday night.

A total of 31 cows are in the care of the Humane Society, Miller said Thursday afternoon.

Wiles was served with notice of the seizures and has 10 business days to file a petition for return of the cows in Washington County District Court.

A Humane Society sign bearing the notice "Impounded Animals" hung on a fence at a farm on College Road Thursday afternoon.

Behind the fence, at least seven cows, some of them noticeably thin, stood in the rain, munching near large feed bins.

Wiles' cows have made the news before.

Wiles used to care for more than 100 cows, including two clones and offspring of clones, on his father's farm near Williamsport. Wiles' father, Charles, evicted Greg for owing more than $7,000 in rent, The Herald-Mail reported in February.

A judge gave Wiles 30 days to remove the cows from his father's property. If he didn't remove them, the cows would have been considered abandoned.

Wiles kept 52 of the cows, and said he was able to find two farms for the cows in Washington County a couple of hours before the deadline imposed by the judge.

The Humane Society had investigated an earlier complaint received about Wiles, Miller said in January. Miller would not provide details about the complaint.

Humane Society officials tagged Wiles' cows earlier this year, but it was unclear as to why, Wiles told The Herald-Mail.